Schumer Calls For Stricter Sex Offender Laws
Utica, NY (WIBX) - Senator Charles Schumer is calling on the Department of Justice to create stricter laws regarding sex offenders.
Schumer was in Utica today to announce a plan forceing level 3 sex offenders to have their photo taken every 3 months, when they check in with their parole officers.
The push for change stems from an incident in which Robert Blainey, a convicted sex offender, did not check in with his parole officer. The public was provided an out-of-date picture. Blainey was later caught in Pennsylvania driving the car of alleged murder victim, Linda Turner.
Schumer pointed to an updated picture of Blainey, who appeared much different than the public's photo.
"The [public] photo that was released, might well have been that of a complete stranger and looked nothing like him at all," Schumer said. "My guess is, if that picture [the updated photo] had been released, he probably would have been caught and not commited the terrible crime that he did."
Currently, parole officers use discretionary judgement when updating a sex offender's photos, and only if the person's appearence has changed.